The New Jersey Law Against Discrimination bans discrimination based on disability. The area of disability discrimination presents a difference between state and federal law. Under federal law, an employee must have a permanent disability to qualify for protection. In contrast, under New Jersey’s discrimination law, an employee with a short-term disability may qualify. Thus, New Jersey’s law provides broad protection.
One of the protections that New Jersey’s discrimination law provides is for accommodations of disabilities. If an employee has a disability, he or she may request a reasonable accommodation. An employer is required to engage in an interactive process. This means that there must be give and take about what would be a reasonable accommodation for the condition in question. A reasonable accommodation can include breaks, short-term leaves of absence, light duty, or special equipment to provide assistance. However, an employee must be able to perform basic job functions either with or without a reasonable accommodation.
Another protection that New Jersey’s discrimination law provides for disabled people is to be free from being singled out based on disability. An employer is not permitted to treat a disabled person differently when making employment decisions. This includes rates of pay and decisions relating to promotion, evaluation, and discipline.
Ron Wronko has handled many disability failure to accommodate and discrimination cases in New Jersey. For instance, he successfully resolved a claim against a large corporation in Jersey City, NJ in a case in New Jersey Superior Court, Hudson County for $265,000. He also handled another claim in Morristown, NJ in New Jersey Superior Court, Morris County for $125,000.
We are NJ disability discrimination lawyers. If you would like an initial telephone consultation on a potential disability failure to accommodate or discrimination claim, please call us at (973) 360-1001.